289 Washington Ave,CB, PS

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Free standing house
Address: 289 Washington Avenue
Cross Streets: DeKalb and Lafayette Avenues
Neighborhood: Clinton Hill
Year Built: 1865
Architectural Style: Italianate
Architect: Unknown
Landmarked: Yes, part of Clinton Hill HD (1981)

The story: Clinton Hill was my first Brooklyn neighborhood. I never actually lived there, but one of my closest friends from high school went to Pratt, and stayed in the neighborhood for many years afterward, so before I moved to Brooklyn from the Bronx, I used to visit there often. She was always looking for a new apartment, as her student, then post-student shares always seemed to have one year leases that she seldom renewed. This was back in the late 1970s, early 80s, when Clinton Hill was far different than it is now. I think one of the reasons I remember so many of the buildings she lived in is because some of them were truly horrendous. Affordable, but horrendous, with conditions only people who can’t afford to do better would tolerate.

Anyway, no matter where she lived, she loved Clinton Hill, and we used to walk around everywhere, looking at houses, checking out apartments, and hanging out with her other artist friends in their often crappy apartments. Hey, we were young, and living the adventure. I’ve always loved architecture, so I absorbed Clinton Hill like a sponge, and its streets have fond memories attached to them, as if I lived there myself.

No one I knew lived in this house, but I always liked it. During these years, many of Clinton Hill’s fine houses were pretty run down, but this one never was. I always remember it being well kept, and beautiful. At one point, my friend lived across the street, so we used to pass this house a lot. It was interesting to see how Brooklyn grew up around it, it was obvious that at one time, larger grounds surrounded it, giving it room to breathe, before the brownstones and apartment buildings crowded it in. (Speaking of which, what were they thinking next door on the left? Yeesh.)

Now that I get to write about these things for a living, I’ve done some research. The house was built around 1865, one of the many villas on Clinton and Washington for the moneyed set, a comfortable suburban retreat from the noise and smells of the more urban parts of the fast growing city of Brooklyn. The great wrap around porch and side bay are two of the houses’ most interesting details, as is the bay visible on the back of the house from Hall Street. The house is brick with a stucco veneer, and has that great deep porch, and fine detailing on the deep overhanging cornice, and the eyebrow lintels. The house still sits on a very long lot, 200 feet total, which extends all the way to Hall Street. I’m sure there was once a carriage house for this property on Hall. Today, the owner probably cleans up on renting those precious parking spaces.

In the 1870s, the house was home to the family of William Slocum Barstow, who was a student at Columbia at the time. The house may have been built for them. Young master Barstow would grow up to be a prominent electrical engineer, financier, and associate of Thomas Edison. He invented the Barstow Booster system, which recharged batteries, and would go on to start and head the General Gas and Electric Corporation. He retired to devote the latter part of his life to charitable causes.

Sometime after 1890, the house was purchased by Samuel Doughty. He lived here for many years with his wife Martha and their daughters, Edna and Olga. The Doughty’s were quite wealthy, and Mr. D. dabbled in real estate, although I don’t think that’s where his money came from. The family was quite active on Brooklyn’s social scene, but there were no mentions of him in any business capacity, and his census record lists his occupation as “none.”

They just had bucks, with a large summer home in Stonington, Connecticut, which was pictured in a Brooklyn Eagle article about Brooklyn’s rich and their summer homes. They went abroad a lot, and Mrs. Doughty donated paintings, china and other decorative objects to the Brooklyn Museum on several notable occasions. Their daughters were introduced to society, and the home was the location for the wedding receptions when they got married. The Doughty’s lived in the house until at least 1933, when Samuel Doughty died at his summer home in Stonington. He and much of the family is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery.

Today, the house is a two family dwelling, still one of Clinton Hill’s nicer houses. GMAP

(Photograph:Christopher Bride for Property Shark)

Rear view from Hall St. Photo: Scott Bintner for Property Shark
Rear view from Hall St. Photo: Scott Bintner for Property Shark
1980s tax photo. This is what the house looked like when I first saw it. Photo: Municipal Archives
1980s tax photo. This is what the house looked like when I first saw it. Photo: Municipal Archives

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